


Of Phantoms and Phoenixes

by goatz



Series: Of Phantom and Phoenixes [1]
Category: mcyt
Genre: Angst, Character Development, Death, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Graphic Description, M/M, Multichaptered, Violence, along with hanging and death, do not read if you get upset by death or description of death!, major angst, no ships for now, please be catious when reading, tags to be updated, tags will be updated! as more characters get introduced i'll add em here, this does describe bodies and murder
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:46:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29935695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goatz/pseuds/goatz
Summary: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE A TRIGGER TO DEATH. This contains mentions of hanging, murder, etc. You have been warned!-“Ah, ah, ah, queen.” The masked man speaks, and the tone of his voice drips like honey, with a deep underlying tone of poison supporting a silent threat. “We don’t want a mess to happen in your royal room, do we?” He asks, and tilts his head. He leans over as the queen underneath him sobs, tears coming in the masses. She shakes her head jerkily, looking more like a broken toy in movements than a graceful and trained queen.
Relationships: no ships for now - Relationship
Series: Of Phantom and Phoenixes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2201571
Kudos: 5





	Of Phantoms and Phoenixes

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so so much to my bestest friend ever, denver, for helping me out with this project and listening to my ramblings about it <3 i am so excited to finally get this out! it's why i haven't been working on UNLIMITED., so i'm so so sorry for my readers who have been waiting for that! life has been a major asshole as well
> 
> i will probably reread this several times but FUCK YEAH its OUT!!! its OUT!!! ITS HERE AND I'M VERY PROUD OF IT!
> 
> please please let me know how it is :D  
> 11k words, bro. i'm so fucking proud of myself

The light of a torch flares in the darkness, emitting past the night that swallowed it whole. The dark green grass was standing tall during the dark night, a gentle dew coating the grass, trees, weeds, and other plants that littered and belonged to the forest. The only sound in the silence of the forest during the night is the clopping and clipping of hooves that belonged to horses. 

The ground is steady underneath the equines; the equines are equipped with saddles and riders. As hooves continue forward in movement at a steady pace, grass underneath their hooves are stomped upon and pushed further down into the earth. Mud splays up and stains their dark colored hooves, and lingers in the hairs of the tail that were long enough to gently be brushed over the ground. The horses are at a preserved trot, ears tilting towards any and every sound in the forest. Zombie groans are heard from a while aways in the dark oak forest, and the rattle of skeletons in the dark shake threateningly. Neither can be seen from the position on horseback. The ears of the horses tilt towards bird tweets, towards the sound of branches snapping underneath their hooves, at crickets that chirp from the darkened atmosphere, and eyes dart at anything that does so much as twitch.

Reins of the horses are slack as the darkness of the forest engulfs the eight individuals, a soft smell of rain lingering in the air and moisture of the dirt obvious. A tail of a horse flicks, and barely reacts from the movement of its owner when he shifts in his saddle. The one in the lead of the other four sits a man with a porcelain mask, the white sticking out like a lightbulb in the dark. A simple smiley face is what dons his mask, a simple yet permanent expression that oozes its way through any given atmosphere.

The pouch on the mans’ back contains an enchanted diamond axe; the blue hues of the diamond axe sticking out against the dark forest, bright, and an outlier in the normally dark and deserted forest. A stray torch is left behind, mounted upon a tree from another traveller, who had passed these lands at another time. Maybe another day, another month, another year. The torch has its own story, it’s own role in a scripted play to enable. That story was not one for a reader to know, at least, not yet.

Eyes barely flicker over towards the torch before redirecting themselves towards the front of the worn pathway, again. Old horse tracks stay molded here in the dirt, signifying that this was a well used trail.

_Perfect._ Arms reach up to move a black cloak, shadows enabling the user to sink and become one with them. Black, fingerless gloves move the porcelain mask. The slim fingers slide underneath the mask to adjust it on a tanned face, freckles barely noticeable. The smile of the mask bores into the darkness the look is directed at, as the cloak is moved to cover the figure’s head and hair. The cloak that once laid comfortably on his shoulders now flows down like a dark waterfall, and completely covers his back, ultimately coming down to around his kneecaps. The cloak is shielding and protective, and thick enough to take hits but not strong enough to avoid the impact of an axe or sword. Milky and pale fingers shoot up towards the cloak, and slide underneath to make adjustments to the ponytail that lays in place, and bandages peak out from thin arms.

The masked man glances at the others around him - a demon with a priest outfit, hidden by his own cloak. His skin is ink black, but his eyes are star white; blinding and sparkling in the galaxy of his face. Demon hands poke out from under the uniform, and the said demon coils his tail around a leg, threateningly. He stands to be a normal human height, in order to give no questioning looks in the case he had an abnormal height.

The masked man’s eyes dart over towards the other three - three other men with cloaks. One man is a hybrid of a cat - long, listening ears, cracking back and forth at every sound that pop off in the silence of the night, listening, listening, listening. His big blue eyes are bouncing like electricity on different areas around him, alert and attentive. His tail flows like water but hovers gently over the horse he’s mounted upon, and coming close to the ground, but never once touching it. Yet, whenever his paws are on the ground, they never once peep a noise. His muzzle and nose twitch at every scent that lingers in the air, shuddering inquisevelty.

The other two seem like normal men, but Dream quickly turned his eyes back towards the front of him as he hears the solid pitter patter of pavement in-front of him. The others are quick to calm their horses as they exit the forest, a looming castle in their viewpoint.

The building they approached was a grand one. It was built with smooth stone and a grand amount of ores, the diamond and gold glinting off of the moon as its’ light is reflected. It was the home of Queen Hayate. 

However, the group completely disregarded it. Royalty, grand riches? Dream almost wanted to turn his nose up at that, but remains to eye the building in front of him. Plus, he didn’t want to seem like a snob himself - he wasn’t one. His eyes flicker down at his scarred arms as a harsh reminder of that fact, and lets out a shuddery exhale as a result. Each scar he has had its own story to tell, some hurting more than the actual injury when he had received it. Dream physically shakes his head in order to change his thought process. With a simple click of his tongue, he pushes his posse forward, and the horses break into a run. Dream tightens his hands around the reins, and harshly pulls to the left, his horse making a sharp turn as it neighs into the night.

Rushed hand movements pats the horse’s neck, and Dream makes a few shushing sounds through his mouth but his focus is forced onto his destination. He ignores the grunts of the horses behind him, and _definitely_ ignores how George’s horse doesn’t even bother to make the tight turn and makes his own way at his own convenient timing. Dream totally doesn’t choose to hear Sapnap’s laughter at it, who is quickly silenced by his own willpower to keep quiet in the dark. Dream one hundred percent tries to end his own growing smile on his face, blinking rapidly.

The five run down a worn down trail for a couple of beats, before Dream takes his horse to a slow. They make another turn into a moor and makes the trot towards a few trees with shrubbery. Dream dismounts his horse as soon as he gets within walking distance to one of the trees, and his hand fluidly switches from holding onto the reins to control to instead direct. His horse slowly comes from a trot to a walk, and eyes Dream. He gives a gentle pull on the horse’s rein and she looks at him. He watches her with half-lidded eyes, before he fully turns around. A singular carrot is removed from one of the pouches around his thigh, and he offers it to the mare with a few quiet hushes. She whinnies, and he chuckles.

With gentle hands, he reaches towards the reins and ties it loosely on the tree, to ensure escape in case of emergency. Dream quickly looks at the horse’s snout, and double check the muzzle to ensure it wasn’t digging into her skin. Once he double checked (read: triple checked), Dream lets out a soft noise of satisfaction. He pats her face and whispers a few unspoken words to her, something along the lines with promises of coming back to her when this is over. He’s had her since she was a foal, of course Dream would come back to her. He lets out a soft exhale. Dream looks at his companion of several years before he raises his face and his gaze rests on the others in front of him doing the same with their horses. Dream lets out another exhale, no longer gentle.

───── ⋆ ⋅♕⋅ ⋆ ─────

Dream lets out a soft sigh as he pats his pants, watching idly as dirt particles come off of them. He makes the final step up onto the steep hill, and Sapnap is right by his side when he reaches the top. Ant comes up next, the cat hybrid blinking at the two, before the trio are finally joined by George and a rather exasperated Bad.

Dream ignored it and pushes onwards, and the others follow after him as they double check their equipment.

The posse approached the castle, each individual’s eyes glinting in the moonlight as they stared. No expression could be pushed onto the porcelain mask as Dream pulled out one of the two diamond axes he always carried. 

A shorter, dark skinned male came up behind his friend and put a hand on his shoulder, resulting in the break of the flow of his cloak. The male had a white band tied around his head, with an ink black choker on his neck. A singular red stone gem is what is attached to the collar, and a soft maroon pulse is contained within the customized jewel. It’s attached to the collar through an iron bar black smithed and forged. His gentle blue eyes linger over the masked figure, before he opens his mouth to speak.

“Dream, there’s guards.”

Dream looks over at the other male, and releases a sigh. With long and pale fingers, he gripped his axe slightly harder. Calculating eyes wander over the several figures of the men at the front of the castle, waiting to be barged in on. The smile said nothing of the analyzing, narrowed glance of the face that was behind it. With almost a few seconds of thought, Dream looked to the illegal mage that was next to him, pausing for a second before finally speaking in a soft, yet powerful voice.

It was the fact that the guards were prepared to be barged in on. They trained for this but never actually expected for it to happen, and that’s where Dream can take advantage of the pitiful pigs. He wants to laugh his crackly laugh, but instead forces his energy to be used towards battle. Dream opens his mouth to finally speak to the dark skinned Greek next to him, and to direct the others of his posse.

“Sapnap, you come with me. We will stay together,” His upper body then turned to stare at the cat man and the fifth and final member of their posse. Dark, chocolate hair falls on top of giant glasses. The glasses are rimmed white on the outside, while an overlay of black blocks any entry to see dark coffee brown eyes. He has a cloak on his shoulders that fall down towards the middle of his legs, and is equipped with a crossbow and a traditional bow as well. Quills and arrows remain mounted on his back in a pouch, which is there for easy access. 

George’s movements are finicky and almost animated. His nerves are taking over his feature, but a cool sense of confidence is circling him like vultures with every single minute. Dream can rely on Ant to keep George calm, he always has been able to.

Dream clears his throat, before speaking, “You two stick together, when Sapnap and I get the first guards out, go in and take in any guards that may be inside.” A pause, as Dream thinks. 

“And Bad,” Dream’s eyes shifted to the demon, “Locate the treasury as quick as possible. When you find it, find me and we can go there and see what we can do from there.” Even though he implied that he was going to improvise, Dream knew exactly what they were going to do. Either they found their way out, or they blew a hole in the wall and ran away until they found their horses and fled. Dream uses his hand to slide over the air, and a bar appears in front of him. He selects his inventory and glances at the TNT to double check that it’s actually there. He hides his inventory and switches back over to his axe, it materializing back into his hand in a flash of white.

With the afterthought of failure washing away, Dream’s hand caught itself opening one of the two pouches that was on his leg. With ease, the flap was opened up and in his hands were a handful of small sticks. 

Sapnap knew within a snap of a finger what his friend was signalling. His hands opened through the stomach of his cloak and showed his crop top he was wearing, along with the light black turtle neck that sat comfortably around his features. As they approached a few feet closer to the guards, Sapnap’s currently brown eyes watched as the sticks launched in the air towards the guards. As they were barely a few inches from hitting their opponent, from his hands shot out a few sparks of fire. The aim was extremely accurate, as Sapnap had trained this ability for years. He watched as the flames quickly caught onto the guards. Then, before there were any shouts, multiple arrows were shot and the guards quickly fell to the ground, limp.

Dream and Sapnap barely looked towards the burning dead bodies, two figures of orange hues with black overtaking them swiftly. The fire burned away their clothes and slowly ate through to their skins. Dream and Sapnap continued on in an automatic movement whereas Ant and George looked on, almost horrified. Dream ignored it.

Sapnap turned around to see George and Antfrost, each with bows in their hand. With a smile on his face, he looked to Dream; who, with a hand motion, signalled them to move forward. They sprinted to the entrance to move the guards further away from the door that they were formerly guarding. George’s eyes refused to move from the fired bodies, realizing that that could’ve been him since he was a former guard. An invisible quiver runs through his body as Bad slinks into the building while Dream directs Sapnap to “get rid of the evidence”. Ant seemed like he was in shock, but followed Dream’s orders.

George agreed to killing for the fact of the castle - not like he really had a choice, but with the realization that his arrows actually went through and killed someone made his fingers shake and his eyes widen. He lets out an exhale, his eyes darting back up with Dream. The leader of the posse was ripping his axe out of the shoulder of a body, the mask looking forward and his back to George.

Numbly, George followed the rest of the others to slide into the entrance silently, aware of everything that was going on around him. 

Now, the group split up into their own groups and went into their own directions, waiting for the call to gather together if Bad had found something.

───── ⋆ ⋅♕⋅ ⋆ ─────

  
  


A diamond axe is what the moon reflects off through the window. It’s sharp, looming, threatening. The moon is full tonight, white shaded by dark blue hues in the thing called the sky that hovers high above the kingdom.

The area is silent; deadly silent. Guards, well - former guards - lay splayed out on the floor, melting into their own crimson as the royal rugs soak up the thick liquid.

Frantic eyes look up the the face of the man with the smiley mask, body quivering as the diamond axe digs into the neck of the woman. A crown rests on her head, jewelry around her neck flowing like a waterfall with the masses. Golds, irons, silvers, diamonds, and even the banished netherite flows down her neck, along with a new crimson liquid as the force of the axe is pushed into delicate white skin.

Dream barely eyes the banished netherite around her neck, deciding to put his focus into what he had to do. _Another reason why the best power is money_ , Dream thinks, almost spitefully.

As the queen flinches, the axe is dug deeper into her neck, and the said queen chokes on the mix of a cough of pain and a sob of fear; body shaking uncontrollably now instead of a simple quiver. The red meets the bright blue hue of the axe and the four other men behind the masked man watch silently.

“Ah, ah, ah, queen.” The masked man speaks, and the tone of his voice drips like honey, with a deep underlying tone of poison supporting a silent threat. “We don’t want a mess to happen in your royal room, do we?” He asks, and tilts his head. He leans over as the queen underneath him sobs, tears coming in the masses. She shakes her head jerkily, looking more like a broken toy in movements than a graceful and trained queen.

The man with a white band around his head stands alert at the door, watching out of the corner of his eye as the whole ordeal happens. The man with black and white rimmed glasses is standing directly behind the masked man, watching with a crossbow at the ready, and a more modern bow on his back. His quills are in a bag on his back for him to access.

The queen’s eyes dart over to the last two - a demon, which, she can tell is one by the glowing white eyes. No pupils, and the horns sticking out of his head loom above his ink black hair, glinting and a promise of danger. The queen doesn’t even want to know what _pact_ they made to illegally summon him, and the fear that looms over her life being threatened is already enough to send her into a panic attack with the threat of a demon. Her eyes dart towards the last one, and she has to squint to see past the blurriness of her… her something. The queen couldn’t decipher if the blurriness was a result of the tears rushing down her face, or if it was the result of the over looming threat of panic with a promise of death. The pain in her chest is like an elephant - constant, threatening, and squeezing her chest like a balloon. She feels like she’s ready to pop at any given minute. 

As she squints, the queen notes that the last man in the room is a hybrid - his cat ears are large and direct; his pupils are staring directly at her. The tail that flicks every once in a while, and the hands that descend into claws make the pain of the axe flare from her imagination.

How they got him out of the black market, she doesn’t know.

“P-please,” she manages to stutter out. She doesn’t know what she’s begging for. She doesn’t even know why these bandits (bandits? lowlifes? She can’t think. Her mind is going too fast, too many thoughts a minute. Too many what ifs, what else she could have done, she wanted to spend more time with her children, and find h-) are here in the first place. An ironic part of her brain says that she should be expecting an assassination attempt, but the shock that dulls her brain is what makes her mind short circuit.

The masked man tilts his head as he looks down at her. He uses his axe to push her head up, her ink black hair falling down her ears. He ignores the way the gold earrings glint from the light of the moon. “Please what?” He asks, the tone of entertainment overwhelming her for a moment.

“P-please..” She tries again, her throat raw and painful from the sobs she can barely manage. The pressure of her lungs are screaming at her for air, yet, the queen can’t manage. Air seems like the most impossible thing possible right now. Her throat is constricted, like an invisible hand is wrapped around her throat, squeezing and hard. What even is air, at this point? She can’t tell. She doesn’t know. “Wha… what do you want?” Her voice is the only distraction from the silence in the air, pupils inflated with fear.

The man pulls the axe away, and the queen’s hands instantly run to hold her throat, coughing violently as she feels her neck bleed an ugly red; the liquid rushing down over her fingers. Her fingers didn’t feel like fingers - not the delicate items she was told to take care of, not the gentle and kind fingers that would push baby’s hair out of the way to give them a kiss on the forehead. Instead, they feel like an other worldly force, constricting her throat in an effort to stop the bleeding. The shaking of her fingers distracts her roaring mind and stuttering chest. She jumps when she hears the man talk; she’d forgotten he was there in her paranoia to stop the bleeding.

“What do I want?” He hums out, sheathing his axe. He taps his foot against the ground as he uses a hand to scratch at his face, behind the mask. He’s pacing back and fourth, and the others are now looking at him with annoyance.

Upon feeling their eyes on him, he turns around, his back to the queen, and lets out a loud laugh. “What?” He says, tone now playful.

The man with the band around his head and with a fire in his eyes rolls said eyes, before he hisses out, “Hurry up.”

“Alright, alright,” the man laughs out. He turns back towards the queen and crouches in-front of her, chain from his pants seemingly teasing her as a hand reaches towards her. With fear stricken eyes, the queen watches as magic transform’s the mans’ hands into demon hands - claws black and glinting.

Her vision goes black at the corners of her eyes as she thinks she distantly feels a hand come up and squeeze around her pale white neck, the contrast between the two colors seemingly announcing her doom. 

She can barely hear through the ringing of her ears as the voice tells her sleep, and she feels inclined to listen to the honey-soaked voice.

On the thirteenth of Friday, October, Queen Hayate is dead. A crow cries out in the darkness, the flapping of its wings the only thing heard.

  
  


───── ⋆ ⋅♕⋅ ⋆ ─────

Dream looks back towards George and Sapnap as he waits with Ant and Bad on the ground. George and Sapnap hang onto the vines as they make their way down the side of the castle. 

Dream’s eyes wonder over Sapnap’s hands - they’re a crusted red from the bodies the five of them slaughtered on their way in the castle, and digging through the pockets to loot. His own bag of loot remains tucked in the pocket of his pants; whereas Sapnap’s is in a bag thrown over his back. Sapnap’s chains make a quiet tune of chimes hitting each other as he descends.

George is hot on his trail as he hops the last few feet onto the ground, making nothing more than a grunt. He looks up at Dream and the posse leader gives him a court nod of approval, before everyone is turning towards their horses. The crunch of the ground underneath them is the only sound of the conversation as they retreat towards the said horses.

After the five make it past the steep hill and the moor with trees, the horses are all watching them with alert ears.

Dream walks up to his - a mare named Reality. He thought it was fitting for her. She’s a mix of black and white, with a strong build and long ink hair flowing past her neck and down her rear.

In his satchel that he has holstered around her, a small meow is heard from inside. Dream opens it and peeks inside - his cat, Patches, is inside. He reaches at her with an aching and bloodstained hand, before switching to his other hand to rub her head. He lets out a soft chuckle at her purring. She has a dark green collar around her neck, and a small smiley as her contact. The same mask Dream wears. He chuckles at her as she pulls herself out of the bag, his calloused hands feeling heavy on her soft fur. Patches looks up at him and meows again, before hopping down onto the ground. He raises a brow at her - not like she could see him do it, but he still does.

With a quick glance to his side, he can see Ant walk to his white horse named Frost, and pull out a carrot from the saddlebag he has attached on his own. Frost was a stallion, strong and big. Dream thinks it’s also ironic for Ant, who was one of the quietest and softest people he’d ever known. A quiet chuckle pasts his lips.

“Hmm?”

The sound comes from his side, and Dream looks over at George, who is watching him. George’s own horse was a stallion was a male named Colourblind. George found it amusing to no end, even to everyone else's' sighs of joking annoyance. Dream tilts his head at George, who looks at him for a few beats in the night, before he lets out another quiet chuckle.

Dream laughs. “Was just thinking, that’s all. We should get going.” He throws himself up onto Reality, with a grunt. He feels George’s eyes on him for a while before George gives up and mounts onto Colourblind.

Sapnap with Pandas, who was Reality’s sister, and Bad with Skeps. Dream doesn’t understand what that name was based off of. No matter how much Dream has tried asking Bad about it, the other has relented and stays adamant on his mystery origins of his horse’s name. There’s still a lot Dream doesn’t know about Bad. He tries not to pry. He has business to do, and he knows Bad does too, by the way his eyes widen and he gets excited at every kingdom they go visit, only to be met with disappointment. No-one in the group knows what he’s looking for, and as much as Bad seems to be a genuine and nice demon, Dream isn’t one to take chances. He’ll have to talk to Sapnap about that later.

Dream’s mask makes contact with the burning gaze of Sapnap, who has caught him lost in thought. Dream brings up a hand to rub at his chin, before releasing a sigh towards himself. He glances up towards the moon looming over his group, before looking down at his horse.

He clicks his mouth twice and lightly squeezes Reality, and she starts trotting forward. The other horses watch with interest, watching their leader. Dream pulls up his hoodie to save his anonymity in the night. “Let’s get going.” And with a pull and a meow from Patches, who is now sitting on Dream’s lap, the others with their own horses start to gallop into the night.

  
  


───── ⋆ ⋅♕⋅ ⋆ ─────

The ride is mostly silent, the five of them setting off with their horses at a light gallop, making sure not to strain their horses as they ride in the darkness. The moon is high above them, watching them with a judging eye. Sapnap and Bad had slowed down behind George and Ant a little while ago, holding a conversation.

The trees around them keep fading in and out as they pass by the mostly fields with a drizzle of shrubs. Dream had been watching the environment around him for a little while, before he got distracted by Patches who was meowing at him for scratches. Dream, as skilled as he was, had to admit that he couldn’t direct a horse and pet a cat; so he put some of his trust into Reality while he talked to Patches.

That was nearly fifteen minutes ago.

And now here he was, looking down at the scroll in his stained and calloused hands, eyes rereading the same lore he’d reread several times. His brows are furrowed as the lantern around Reality’s harness shifts, meaning the light violently jerks away from him. With a hand, Dream reaches back over to put it back where he could read the scroll, eyes rereading everything word to word.

Eyes scan over the lines, once, twice, even three times. He still can’t rack it in his brain.

_The Empires of Phantoms and Phoenixes…_

_Two friends, turned enemy._

_The story is painted as good versus evil. Evil versus good. White versus black. Black versus white._

_Queen Pyra, long ago, came to become the founder and ruler of Empire Phantom. She created her own maze of darkness and secrecy; and even the most deepest of ravines were to come and bow down to her. The darkness was her friend, and the skeletons that rested in the earth were her allies._

_Queen Pyra was not one to hesitate, especially if she knew she would not lose herself in the darkness should she be able to hold herself up. Queen Pyra settled down and invited those to her towns, until she built a kingdom. Queen Pyra did not hesitate to experiment. She would take her own citizens by creating kidnapping programs, and test on theories others were too afraid to test. She’d take children, who had just reached the age of six. She’d take elders, who just reached their eldest prime age. She would take teenagers, adults. She would tak-_

“Dream?”

Dream jolts and looks over at Ant, the hybrid had sped up to match his horses’ speed. Dream lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and runs a gloved hand through his hair. Dream offers a shaky smile from his scare, before he realizes that the other can’t actually see him smiling. So instead, Dream lets out a soft chuckle. He looks down at the scroll in his hand - the stolen scroll from the palace they had just raided, and spins it so it wraps itself, before tucking it in in the inside of his saddlebag. “Hello, Ant.” The posse leader hums.

“Hi,” he laughs out awkwardly. “You okay?”

Dream looks at the hybrid and reaches a hand over, lessening up on the rein. Patches lets out a purr and rubs her head against his hand. He flicks Ant’s head. “Better than ever. Why?”

“You were just a little quiet over there,” Ant comments, shrugging. He brings a paw up to rub at his head. His horse, Frost, by default, slows to be behind Reality. That’s just the hierarchy, baby.

“Ah, sorry.” Dream comments, and shifts his face to look forward. There’s a small farm-town above, and Dream reckons he can let the group rest. They’ve been running for a few hours at most, and while he’d be uncomfortable stopping at the next town over from the palace, he thinks he can manage to let his group rest. He knows they’ve all been tired and getting prepared for this day - executing a queen isn’t as easy as it may seem. One night. It was just for one night. That should be enough. “Was just thinking that we can stop at this town up ahead,” Dream nods towards it.

Ant looks forward and flicks his ear, cat eyes watching intently. “Are you sure? It _is_ the next town from the palace.”

Dream looks at Ant, before looking behind him. George is falling asleep and Bad keeps yelling at him to stay awake, even reaching over and shaking him. A threat from Sapnap about burning and hogties is heard, and Dream looks back at Ant unimpressed.

Ant just laughs out, “Nevermind.”

Dream chuckles with him for a moment, before he clicks once, and Reality slows down. Frost, Skeps, Colourblind and Pandas slow down defaultly. Bad, Sapnap, and George(albeit slowly) all look up at Ant and Dream. Dream clears his throat. “We’ll be stopping at this town up ahead.” Dream announces. He turns Reality to turn back towards the group as he looks over them, eyeing a crow a whiles away.

“Bad, go ahead and use your magic here to make yourself seem human.” Dream orders. The demon looks at him and chirps happily, a bright green magic overwhelming him in a flash before a brown-haired young adult is looking back at Dream. Normal hands, no demon tail, no horns. He cheers at himself, and Sapnap rolls his eyes good-heartedly at the demon he’d come to look at as a brother. “Ant, hide all of your hybrid features. You’ll help George and get him inside,” Dream decides. The hybrid nods at him, before cringing as he shoves his tail inside his pants, and ears are hidden behind a hood. He forcibly flattens them against his head. Ant’s best chance was hiding against the shadows, as he couldn’t really hide his muzzle or cat eyes. His paws were a problem, too, but they made it work.

“Sapnap,” Dream looks at the other. “We’ll scout around town for a while and see if there’s anything we can find.” The Greek boy nods at him.

With a pull and a clear idea as to what to do, Dream steers Reality towards the town and the five of them make their way forward, George muttering something about a lack of blue in this town. Dream finds it increasingly hard not to laugh, but settles for a smirk instead.

They ride down the hill towards the town and it’s quiet between the five. Dream glances at the sign of the town - _Valentine_ , and he rides up towards the stables of the town. The other four follow him. He glances at the stables, and the several horses inside. There’s a man standing behind the counter, with a mask of his own.

Dream hops off of Reality, and with him, comes Patches. He makes a signal towards the other four with his hands - a command to stay, but be alert. He hands Reality’s reigns over to Sapnap, and the other watches Dream with sharp eyes. Dream ignores the watchful stare, as he turns his back and pads into the inside of the stable, the lighting from the torches making him wince and narrow his eyes behind his mask.

“Elllo~?” Dream attempts, Patches looking up at him before looking back at the other man with a swish of her tail.

The man behind the counter jumps, before setting down his newspaper. A gold glint is attached to his shirt, and Dream vaguely reads _Sam_ before the man is moving. “Ah! H-hello!” He claps, and suddenly Dream feels entertained.

“Not often you get customers this late?” Dream suggests, letting out a small chuckle.

The man, Sam, looks at Dream through his own mask. Sam’s mask is green with a frown on his face - it’s black. Dream doesn’t know what to think of the face of the creeper - he can tell it’s a drawing, which, thank god, but also kind of horrifying because he knows how terrifying creepers can be. Dream shakes his head mentally to remove himself of his thoughts and looks back towards the other man. “Yeah, we don’t. Anyways, what can I help you with?” The man asks, successfully aiding Dream in exiting his thoughts.

“Got some horses I need to stay here for the night,” Dream says. “How much are you looking for?”

“Well, how many horses do you have?” Sam responds, and Dream feels a smile tugging at his lips.

“Five.”

“Five? Five? Five! Did I hear that right? How do you have so many horses?” The man laughs, assuming Dream is on his own.

Dream rolls his eyes good-naturally before he laughs, “Nah, we have a good ol posse of five waiting out there. How much?” Dream waves him off.

“Oh, shit. Oh, fuck. Shit! Fuck! Fucki-” The man lets an annoyed inhale before letting out a scoff. “I’m not allowed to curse on the job, but that’s a large posse. We only see posses of two to three nowadays. Anyways, since it’s so big, I’ll give you guys a discount. Instead of five gold per member, I’ll offer two gold per member.” The man smirks at him underneath the drawing.

Dream was positively wheezing now, and has to put his hand on the desk to steady himself before he falls to the floor. He lets out a sharp inhale before standing back up, huffs of laughter still coming off of him. A hand reaches up to reach underneath his mask and rub his eyes, before actual tears start dropping.

The man looks down at his desk, suddenly looking pale. Dream tilts his head at him for a few beats before looking down, and shit, his bloodied hand is still on the desk. The blood dried a little while ago but Dream’s surprised there’s so little left on his hand. Dream clicks his tongue, and looks back up at Sam, and when Sam visibly swallows, Dream chuckles.

Patches hops up onto the desk, and Dream reaches for his axe. He takes it out and leans against both the staff and the desk. A cold smile is played onto Dream’s face. “How about we do five gold for all of us, and you stay quiet about ever seeing me? You’ll get to live,” Dream says nonchalantly.

The man looks up at his hand and then up at Dream, and swallows again. His throat reminds Dream of the queen’s throat that he just crushed. Dream lets out a hum as he awaits Sam’s answer.

“Y-yeah, sure, man. Look, I’m just trying my best,” He laughs nervously.

“And that’s why I made the deal with you, no?” Dream says, using a gloved hand to push his hair behind his ear. “I’m being flexible, I believe.” He glances down at Patches, who looks over at Sam. Dream looks back up at Sam.

“Y-yes, of course.” He laughs nervously. “Five gold.. Please..” Sam requests, nervously shuffling his feet behind the counter. His hand stretches out towards Dream, and Dream glances down at it. He ignores the trembling of it.

With his fingerless gloves, Dream snaps his fingers to call Patches. His cat companion, who had wandered off to explore the new found place, turns her head back towards Dream with her ears perked up. The she-cat trots over, her paws bringing up dirt around her and leaving a trail of paw prints behind in her wake. She looks up at her owner, with big green eyes. 

With a huff of hair, Patches hops up onto the counter. She lets out a meow, and a gloved hand runs down her back towards her tail. She lets out a purr.

Dream runs his hand back up towards her collar, and with an outstretched hand towards her tags, a light illuminates from them. The white from the dream blob as her tag becomes fire, and Dream has never been more thankful that Sapnap is an illegal mage. He breathes out as fire whisks against his hand, burning and hungry. He ignores how Sam flinches next to him due to the illegal magic, but Dream can’t really be bothered to care. He already know he’s done some deep shit and is in trouble, but at least he can add onto his list of illegal things he’s done or will do. He’s here for a fun time, not a long time.

The fire sparks and Dream catches a few embers from the flickering flames. They transform into gold coins that Dream had stored into the magic pocket, and he then slides the five gold coins towards Sam.

Sam takes it with a straight figure, lips torn from anxious chewing.

“And I trust you’ll take care of our horses, correct?” Dream asks, an underlaying tone of danger in his voice. When Sam nods, frequently, Dream gives him a wave and turns on his heel to walk out of the barn.

He meets back up with the others outside - a very tired George and Ant, with a frustrated Sapnap and a cautious Bad. Dream chuckles at them, the sound of him bringing their attention towards him. “We have the horses taken care of - I trust Sam will see to them.

“Meanwhile, Bad, you take Ant and George and find the motel. We’ll stay there for the night.” Dream directs, with Patches on his shoulders.

Bad looks at Dream and nods while Sam comes out, looking at the five cautiously. He walks up to the horses and pets their snouts before grabbing hold on their reins and leading them inside the building. Dream watches after them with a sharp eye, before they leave his field of vision. He turns back towards the group and catches a very worried and protective Bad ushering George and Ant into the town.

Dream brings up a hand to hide his chuckles as he turns towards Sapnap, who had snatched Patches off of his shoulders and was now playing with her in his arms. The she-cat purred up at the illegal mage, who in turn giggled at the cat. He scratched behind her ears before looking up and catching his best friend’s gaze on him. Dream wheezes at how red his face becomes due to the interaction between the two Dream had caught, and Sapnap sputters at him before turning on his heel and running in a random direction.

With a wheeze, Dream chases after him. This reminds him of the good days, when Dream and Sapnap met each other in the orphanage. When it was him and Sapnap against the world. When it was him and Sapnap who made up their favorite game, Manhunt. When Sapnap snapped at Dream and fire literally sprouted from his hands. When it was Dream helping Sapnap channel his illegal power to keep him safe. When it was Dream and Sapnap running away from the orphanages, the towns, a way to keep themselves safe. When it was them versus the world in a new literal sense, forcing two young children to age too early.

It reminds Dream of just them being them and growing up. He runs after his best friend, the wheezy laugh following him as Patches runs next to him, jumping over a fallen tree and Sapnap ducks under one. Dream jumps over it as Patches comes to a slow trot, ears tilted up.

Dream remembers it all.

Dream loves it all, and he adores his best friend. He lets out a soft laugh as Sapnap comes to a slow in-front of him, whirling on his heel to direct a kick towards Dream. Dream blocks it and instead tackles his friend to the ground, putting a hand over his neck to keep him pinned down.

It was just like they were young - before Dream was Dream. Before Sapnap was Sapnap. Back when they were just Clay and Nick. Two kids, against the world. Two kids who had to grow up too early. Two kids who had to know that the world was always against them, two kids who knew they had to go far just in order to succeed. Two kids, who had to learn self-defense and go into the killing industry to be safe.

Two kids, who grew up with each other and put full trust in each other, despite their trust being deceived multiple times in the past. Two kids, who promised to always be together.

Dream licks his lips as the two pant in the forest, with the watchful eyes of Patches. Sapnap reaches up a shaking and dirt colored hand, and Dream watches with careful eyes as Sapnap reaches behind his head, and unclips his mask. The air between them is heavy as Dream’s mask is held in Sapnap’s hand, and taken away slowly.

Green eyes meet dull brown ones, a small flame of red in them. Like blood in dirt, Sapnap’s eyes divert from left eye to right eye, and vice versa several times as the forest eyes of Dream do the same. Two boys, forced to adulthood, too early. The dirt to the forest, the mint to the coffee, the emerald to the dark.

Sapnap’s hand rests on Dream’s nape, and Dream moves his own hand from Sapnap’s neck to the ground next to him. Sapnap lets out a few breathy chuckles, the air hot and heavy. “... Hey, Clay.”

Clay looks at Sapnap and smiles cheesily, his eyes wrinkling with pure happiness. This man was his best friend, right here. “Hi, Nick.” Clay returns, ignoring Sapnap putting the mask on the ground. _Just his best friend_ , his mind taunts.

“How have you been?” Nick asks, breathlessly.

“.. Okay.” Clay admits, and lets himself lower onto the other, breathing in Nick’s scent. The calming forest air around them welcomes them. Nick lets out a soft chuckle, his hand going up to Clay’s nape to rub at the hair there. Clay melts into the other, as Nick uses his mage magic to warm his hands. His brown eyes become a lighter red, rosy and welcoming.

Two kids, forced into survival of the fittest, too early. Two kids, who had to learn what death was too early, by the means of their own hands. Two kids, who had to scratch and fight and cry their way to the top.

Two kids, who were just best friends. Just best friends.

“... How’s your hand?” Nick asks, eyes fluttering close, black hair meeting the dirt ground.

“... I still feel her throat.” Clay admits, exhaling deeply. He welcomes the feeling of Nick curling into him and bringing him closer. He feels protected.

Nick lets out a sigh, and offers a few kisses to Clay’s cheek. Clay exhales through his nose, muttering, “Shouldn’t you leave those for George? Since he’s your crush and all?” Clay teases. Just best friends.

Nick lets out a dry chuckle, muttering, “Shut up, dude. He’s not my best friend though. He doesn’t get all of the platonic kissies like you do.” His lips move against Clay’s cheek.

Clay lets out a soft laugh, the soft and reserved one he uses for moments like this. Not the wheeze that echoed and carries throughout the area he’s in. No, this one is soft and reserved - a quiet piece to a puzzle in order to unlock him. “Yeah, you’re right. Not everybody gets to cuddle with you right after murder in a random castle.” He jokes.

Nick pulls away for a moment, grabbing Clay’s cheeks with his hands. He looks at him right in the eyes. “Damn right, bro. It’s been you and me from the beginning. Not me ‘n’ George. He’s a cute boy with a weird accent, but that’s the extent.” Nick says, seriously.

Clay’s face flushes red, and he stares at Nick with a burning face. His heart beats wildly and Clay pushes Nick away, his heart like a volcano and his face like a fire. Clay grabs the mask and puts it back on, trying to will the red away.

Just best friends.

Nick watches after him, laughing as he pushes himself up and sits up on the forest floor. “Well, well, well, Dream? All flustered? A rare sight for me to see?” Nick jokes.

Dream looks at him out of the corner of his mask and tries to bring his hands up to hide his face, the fire only intensifying. “Yes, Sapnap,” he says, expaustared.

“Aww~, don’t Sapnap me!” Nick whines, pushing off of the ground to stand up. He looks up at Dream, who is holding his face and hiding against a tree. “Clayyy~,” he coos, poking Dream in the side.

Dream screeches in fake fear and takes off running, Nick laughing after him.

Just best friends. Because while Dream has his eyes on Sapnap, Sapnap has his eyes on someone else. And if the little kisses and moments like these are all Dream gets; well, he’s okay with just being best friends.

And well, if arson is committed in the forest that night, they wouldn’t tell anyone.

───── ⋆ ⋅♕⋅ ⋆ ─────

  
  


Dream lets out an exhale as he settles onto the log, the sun long gone by now as Sapnap and him settle down. Sweat pours down their faces in the dark forest, the croaks and coos of the frogs and crickets from around them filling the air. Fireflies light up the sky around them and vines fall down from the large trees. Nearby, Sapnap puts out a fire with the heel of his shoe, panting heavily.

“Still got you… bitch.” Sapnap threatens light-heartedly, making claws at him as a threat to tickle him again.

Dream whines and scoots away on impact, his lungs already tired and drained from their little tickle fight fest and miniature Manhunt.

Dream lets out a soft exhale as he reaches behind him and grabs some dry sticks, putting them down on the ground in-front of him. He kicks them away for good measure, tired eyes dragging out his eye shadows. He keeps on the mask for that reason. He glances over towards Sapnap and with a breathless voice, he mentions towards the sticks. “.. W… would you?” He offers.

The mage looks over at Dream and lets out an exhale. “You’re.. you’re lucky I didn’t use all of my juice,” he pants. His eyes become a deep maroon red as fire sparks from his hands and an ember leaps onto the sticks to cause a fire. A soft _thanks_ from Dream is what Sapnap gets, and he hums out in return.

The two sit by the fire and listen to the crackling for a while, as Patches seemingly comes out of nowhere and sits down by the two, watching the fire cautiously. She whips her tail before curling it around her, bringing a paw up to clean her face. Her ear twitches.

Sapnap lets out a hum as he looks up towards the stars, his breathing starting to get back under control. Dream glances at him and makes a questioning noise.

“Oh, sorry.” Sapnap laughs. “I was just thinking.”

“Of?” Dream asks, tilting his head at the other. He blinks his eyes.

“Of our first “mission”. Do you remember that?” Sapnap asks, his face curling up in a smile. He lets out a soft chuckle as he wipes at his face with his hand.

Of course Dream did. How could he forget?

_It was back when they were kids - thirteen and eleven, Dream being the oldest and Sapnap being the youngest of the two. The two had been managing for the last couple of years by surviving off of others - old elderly couples, unknowing adults, and stupid teenagers. They slept wherever they could. In caves, in ditches, in trees. They never had an official home, since they were nothing more than just homeless and dumb kids who had to fight for survival, each and every day. There was no forgiveness in their world, then. They had no allies, except for each other._

_Their prime targets were the elderly, back then. They mostly stole little things - food, mostly things that were going stale. Elderly people had a hard time seeing, hearing, and having the reflexes of catching up to them. Nick and Clay didn’t have the heart to fully steal from them, though. Homeless kids, yes, but heartless, no. They only took little, and on most nights, even then, Clay still gave the majority of his keeping to Nick. He was still a growing kid, afterall. Clay didn’t mind if he wasn’t as healthy as he should’ve been, as long as his friend was okay. Maybe even his best friend, at that point._

_Anyways. They didn’t fully take from the elderly. They only stole things that were thrown out in the trash or things that were going stale. They always broke into houses only to cover the elders with blankets and tried to give forgiveness even when they were never entrusted with it. The world never liked this duo from the start. They took clothes that had holes in them and blankets that were worn and torn._

_Even on some nights when Clay would be going cold in the toes and fingers, and an icy blue was what he woke up with, he’d always give the blankets and clothes to Nick, even if the clothes were adult clothes and never even fit them anyways._

_Since Nick was an illegal mage, Clay always had to make sure to comfort him and keep his body temperature warm. Fire mages, Clay had read about, had to be warm in order to use their powers. They didn’t suffer from fevers or the flu, but they suffered gravely in cold environments and their downfall was the snow and ice. Clay had always stayed late up night scouring through the books he’d stolen from the local library, but he’d always make sure to return them, and even cleaned them to make sure they were in better condition then. Sometimes he couldn’t, and even if he couldn’t directly apologizing for stealing, Clay would apologize in his mind and hope it was enough._

_Even as Clay had to teach himself to write, and with messy and unsure handwriting, Clay would work harder than what he ever had just to keep his friend alive. He knew fire mages like the back of his hand. Other mages, not so much._

_Mages were banned in every kingdom due to their magic being unlicensed and undocumented. They were sold in the black market and used as symbols in kingdoms for beheadings or hangings - a symbol of unwillingness to follow a kingdom’s order. Mages were lucky if they weren’t killed, and were only tortured. Some were kept alive to be used as slaves or to be used as torturers, but Clay would be damned if he’d ever let that happen to Nick. Clay thinks that he read somewhere about the origin of mages coming from a royal blood line, but he wasn’t one hundred percent sure._

_Clay vaguely remembers brushing Nick’s black ink hair out of his face on one snowy night as he checked his temperature, the roaring noise of snow and ice causing chaos outside of their cave. Some stray droplets would come raging inside due to the fast speed, and the hail had been roaring angrily. Clay also remembers how cold he was in his torn hoodie, but he ignored the pure pain from how cold and shocked his limbs were. He had ignored the blueness in his toes and fingers, he had ignored the ice that threatened death. Instead, he had been fixing Nick’s blankets, extra clothes the duo had managed to stole, and anything else that could cover Nick as much as he could, and keeping his body under the heat._

Of course Dream remembers their first mission - how could he not?

_“There! He’s south!” Nick had shouted, an echo in his ear and in the distance. Clay was to his left and his head whips up to the older teenager who was running away with stolen goods. The boys had figured, hey, if they can’t directly steal things themselves, why not steal a stealer’s loot? Two bads make a good, right?_

_“Distract the townspeople, Nick!” Clay had yelled, and a sharp reply of “okay!” was what had greeted Clay’s ears as he took off after the teenage boy. A scream pierces Clay’s ears as fire roared threateningly behind him, the fire raging and burning buildings like an iron nugget to a magnet._

_Clay quickly ducks into an alley, chasing after the boy. The sound of a shoe hitting a puddle brings Clay’s attention and his head snaps towards the sound. He pushes himself off the side of the building in order to give himself momentum, especially able to give chase and hopefully get closer to the much bigger and taller boy. The hooded boy was legging it as fast as possible in the opposite direction of Clay._

_He definitely wasn’t the fastest of people, but he definitely had Clay panting and struggling to catch up, simply due to their size difference. He’s about to turn a corner and follow the dude through another alleyway, but a leg sticking out stops him and he hits the ground with an “oof”. Clay looks up with devastation on his features as the teenage boy gets away, before he scowls and whips his head around to look at the offender who had fucked him over._

_Clay’s face was met by a boy’s fist and Clay lets out a hiss of pain as an iron axe glints at him dangerously. Clay’s hand drags up to his face as iron enters his mouth, and he looks up at the teenager. He rubs at his now cruised cheek, and absently spits out a tooth._

_“‘ell, ‘ell, ‘ell! Look’t w’at we ‘ave ‘ere, boys!” The teenager loomed over Clay. Clay put on his best intimidating face, curling his lips to show his teeth. The teenager laughs at him instead. “”ah, ‘ah, ‘ah, ‘id.” The deep accent swells at him. “This is BBS terri’ory, get ‘ou’ta ‘ere.” His glasses loom on his face, as his leather jacket shines intimidatingly. Clay forces himself not to focus on his beaming red eye and half metal face._

_Clay glares at him, ignoring the rush of warm liquid racing through his fingers. “BBS?” He attempts. He’s never heard of a BBS before._

_“Oi, Vanoss! Loo’it what we’ve got ‘ere!” He calls, and a male with a red jacket and two white stripes comes down the alleyway. He’s wearing a mask - an owl mask, with big yellow eyes and a sharp black beak. He looks condescendingly down at Clay. Clay flinches._

_“... Look, kid.” The owl sighs. He takes out his hands from his pockets. “Get out of here. I’ll give you some money, ‘kay? Just know that this is our territory. Maybe we’ll see you again if you want to join, but we’ve gotta go get my boys with that fire out of no-”_

_“Oh shit! The fire!” Clay jumps, and pushes himself back up, only to push past the two strangers. He races faster than he ever has in his life, regardless of the two older teens racing after him and yelling at him._

_When Clay got back, Nick looked the sickest he’d ever been. Pure worry raced through Clay and he barely remembers anything that had happened after that._

Dream looks at Sapnap out of the corner of his eye, letting out a soft chuckle. “Yeah. How could I forget?”

“That was the worst ever!” Sapnap laughs out. “You with your bleeding nose, that you got from who knows where, and me who nearly died because of my powers. I don’t think you slept for the next three nights,” Sapnap teases. “Pwotecteve Dweam!” Sapnap coos, putting his hands next to his face and curling them up.

“Shut up, dude!” Dream cries out, launching himself across towards the other. “I hate youuu!” He whines, laughing his wheezy laugh at the other. The fire in front of them crackles angrily, roaring as they remember that night. Just best friends.

Sapnap reaches up a hand to brush at his eye, ripping a tear away. The two look at each other and Dream laughs, before he looks back at the fire in-front of them. The warm air around them is comforting and welcoming, and Dream absentmindedly listens to the crackling of fire in front of him. The two of them dwell around for the fire for a few minutes, letting themselves sit in silence and letting their thoughts wonder.

Two children. Now, two young adults. Two best friends. Only best friends. Just now, only starting their own story. Dream glances over at Sapnap and lets out an exhale. Sapnap’s attention is divided by keeping his eyes on the fire, or looking down at the twig he’s messing around with in his hands. Dream opens his mouth to say something, but stops, and chews on dry lips. They peel away with the force of ripping that Dream does, before he sighs.

“Hey, Sapnap.” He starts. The other looks up at him with a curious eyebrow arched. “I mean... Nick.” Dream puts his hand up and puts it on his mask, and removes it. He then turns his body to be able to fully look at the other, the moonlight welcoming into the darkness of the night. he lets out a soft sigh, before looking up at Nick with forest green eyes. “... you… I…”

Hesitation. Clay pauses and bites on his lips again, before furrowing his brows. Clay wants to ask, wants to show that he cares, because he _does_ . Why does hesitation have to be his worst enemy? He doesn’t know what to do now, with this awkward silence. _How does Nick do it?_ He thinks. _How does he make talking about personal and mental health seem so easy? I’m a little jealous of him_ , Clay realizes, with a soft and bitter laugh. _Maybe I should… Just.. Ask. That’s what Nick does, right?_

Clay looks up under his lashes and up to Nick, who is watching him with interest plagued on his face. Clay breathes in deeply to ground his feelings, before he opens his mouth again to ask -

“Oh, Clay! You’re right,” Nick starts off. He claps his hands together and stands up, turning his back towards Clay. Confusion dawns onto Clay’s features and he blinks his moss coloured eyes, lashes reflecting the color of the fire off of them. Orange hues dawn on his face and hide softly brushed freckles. “We should definitely get going back! I mean, look at how late it is!” Nick says, laughing.

Clay just looks after him, dumbfounded. He isn’t sure what to say.

“I mean, we’ve been out here for a long time, no? We should probably get us back to the motel and check up on the others.” Nick says, his hand going to back of his neck and stretching his other arm out. Nick moves the most of his hands to the base of his back and pushes, letting out a groan of pleasure at the popping noises.

Clay can only blink, and nod in dumbfounded confusion. He blinks and pushes himself, feeling like he’s not even controlling his body, and instead watching everything happen from an outsider’s perspective. With numb fingers, Clay pushes his mask onto his face, watching Nick with confused features.

“... Do you remember which way we came?” Sapnap asks, hands reaching up to fix the tie around his head.

Dream can’t move his mouth, so he settles for simply shaking his head instead. He doesn’t really know what he’s supposed to say, when his mental train just had a mental trainwreck. Went from zero to one hundred very fast, and in the way Dream least expected. He stares at Sapnap and starts to reach out to him, before Dream realizes what he’s doing.

Right when Sapnap is about to turn around to him, Dream pulls his hand back as if he had just touched, well, fire. With a look, Dream exhales and drops his hand.

The duo walk back towards the city, almost in silence.

Just best friends.

───── ⋆ ⋅♕⋅ ⋆ ─────

  
  


A tall male blinks his wide eyes down at the discovery of a dead body, fingers anxiously messing with his clothes. He steps over the dead body of a guard and pads forward, eyes wide and darting everywhere. His tail barely hovers over the ground and he jumps when it barely brushes over blood, almost choking on his own inhale.

His horns stick out of his hair, and he peers over into the next hallway, before continuing on his trail.

It’s a solid few minutes where he just looked at charred bodies, eyes wide and confused, almost even scared. He hasn’t heard of a murderer burning the bodies before, but, well, there _are_ such a thing as arsonists.

“Wait,” he speaks, talking to himself. He pauses, fully. _What about Queen Hayate?_ The abnormally tall man books it up and towards the grand stairs, towards the treasury. A light barely catches his face, making it out to be half black and half white, with green and red eyes. He exhales harshly, running forward.

When he makes it to the treasury, the only thing the male sees is the dead, and now, charred body of the queen.

“Oh no,” is the only thing his mouth can make. “Oh no. This is not good. Not good at all.”

**Author's Note:**

> lots to unpack here!! [: shoot some theories down below that you might have, mwahaha  
> i love breakin' our boys [:< ahahaha
> 
> any inquiries or interests/comments? wanna come theorize or tell me your reactions? come reach me at:  
> @mochithegoatz !! ( https://twitter.com/mochithegoatz )
> 
> THANK YOU *SO* much for reading <3


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